We Were Soldiers
2002, 2 hrs 15 min., Rated R for sustained sequences of graphic war violence, and for language. Dir: Randall Wallace. Cast: Mel Gibson (Lt. Colonel Hal Moore), Madeleine Stowe (Julie Moore), Sam Elliott (Sergeant Major Basil Plumley), Chris Klein (2nd Lieutenant Jack Geoghegan), Keri Russell (Barbara Geoghegan), Barry Pepper (Journalist Joe Galloway), Greg Kinnear (Major Bruce "Snakeshit" Crandall), Ryan Hurst (Sergeant Ernie Savage), Marc Blucas (2nd Lieutenant Henry Herrick).

Adapted from the book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young", We Were Soldiers is the true story of the first major battle of the Vietnam War between U.S. and North Vietnamese soldiers. Mel Gibson is Col. Hal Moore, leader of the U.S. Air Cavalry, newly designed to adapt the military to modern warfare, with helicopters serving as their horses.

Moore leads the Cavalry into Vietnam when the unit of volunteer soldiers is called, encountering the enemy at Landing Zone X-Ray in the la Drang Valley in Nov. 1965, soon to be called the "Valley of Death." Moore's troops are given the designation as First Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry, the same regiment as General George Armstrong Custer, and once they find the enemy it's apparent the Pentagon wasn't hiding their objectives for this group of 400 fighters, surrounded by thousands of North Vietnamese in what became one of the most savage battles in U.S. history. As a result, there are plenty of references to compare the two leaders, but unlike Custer, Moore was thankfully more successful.

Intensely moving, it packs a whollop, and not just in battle scenes. Soldiers also gives a glimpse at families back home, especially wives who can only lean on each other, and even does what Black Hawk Down was criticized for not doing: Gives an idea of the view from the enemy side and their foot soldiers and leaders.

Mel Gibson is awesome, and has yet to make a film in which I didn't completely empathize with his character. Then man is box office gold for a reason, and that he's such a nice and genuine person off camera only helps him play a real man, Col. Moore, who was every bit a fighter for his men as Gibson portrays.

In support, Sam Elliott is fantastic, and such a hardass that he could motivate Barry Manilow to get a mohawk hairdo and rap, let alone train fresh troops to be fighters and strategists in battle. Filmmaking for Soldiers was so solid that even two actors who normally mean disaster for movies - Chris Klein and Barry Pepper - pull together some above average acting. On the home front, married to Gibson is Madeleine Stowe in a very dramatic role, and Keri Russell ("Felicity") as Klein's wife.

Ignoring the fu-fu critics who only like Vietnam movies that insult our soldiers and would rather all movies on the war condemn our fighters and objectives, my Dad and me thought it was a very solid film. Personally, We Were Soldiers instantly moves near the top of Vietnam movies I would recommend that Americans need to see.

For those who criticize it as sentimental, gung-ho and jingoistic I say poppycock. This was the first major battle of a terrible War, before the politics existed on a notable scale. We Were Soldiers is about volunteer and elite troops doing their duty, not draftees smoking pot six years later who have been infested by the negative vibes back home from the Left, from treasonous Jane Fonda or from the press. It's a tribute to the noble men under fire, loyal to a country that would soon turn its back on them for something they couldn't control.

The verdict:

The Time Machine
2002, 1 hr 35 min., Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence. Dir: Simon Wells. Cast: Guy Pearce (Prof. Alexander Hartdegen), Samantha Mumba (Mara), Omero Mumba (Kalen), Jeremy Irons (�ber-Morlock), Orlando Jones (Vox, #NY-114), Mark Addy (David Philby), Phyllida Law (Mrs. Watchit), Sienna Guillory (Emma).

Based on the legendary H.G. Wells novel, the 2002 adaptation of The Time Machine is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. That's not to say I wasn't entertained; it was exactly what I expected, so-so, a mix of action, drama and science fiction but no real depth.

Let's just say that the filmmakers didn't spend a lot of time delving into the underlying social issues that one would find in the novel or even the original 1960 movie version.

It doesn't hurt that Guy Pearce is the star of this vehicle, since he's certainly now able to be ranked among the most reliable of Hollywood stars. Besides Pearce the cast is pretty thin, from Samantha Mumba playing the peaceful Indian-like babe, "Make 7, Up Yours" Orlando Jones as a photonic computer with an attitude, and Jeremy Irons makes an appearance as a weird albino oracle in desperate need of spinal adjusting, whose scene brought forth Star Trek V reminders. It would have been perfect if Pearce yelled out, "I need my pain!"

I enjoy science fiction films, and love "What If?" films and books. This one has a few, with Pearce traveling 800,000 years into the future only to discover mankind has evolved into two very different beings. The movie doesn't mention any paradoxes or talk about what is possible with time travel, only asking "Why can't you change the past?" which it apparently forgets to ask later, as we see that you can change the just-past, but not the long-past, or something like that. Oops, I'm taking it seriously again, so I'll stop. I guess I've seen too much Star Trek to avoid asking about personal Prime Directives.

But like I said, I wasn't looking for anything special, either, just a couple of hours of entertaining diversion with snazzy visuals, and that's pretty much what I got. And at an hour-and-a-half, there's not enough time to get bored.